Ask the director of innovation
or a brand manager at any large company and they're likely to agree that launching an entirely new brand, even in the most robust economy,
is an enormously risky and costly undertaking, to say the least. The time and energy that goes into the product development process, paired with sizable capital investment costs, manufacturing, launching and marketing a new totally brand, can be a daunting proposition, even in the best of times. Another crucial consideration is sobering success rate statistics,
with some studies suggesting that four or more of every five products in development are doomed to failure.
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Not many
directors of innovation or brand managers have the internal
fortitude or the financial resources to expend this amount of time and
effort, only to have their new brand crash and burn, especially in
these quasi-recessionary times. With shrinking budgets and
the need to stay one step ahead of the competition,
shareholders and CEOs are asking, "how's our new product pipeline
looking?," what's an innovation team to do? One high-impact,
cost-conscious thing to do is "stop agonizing and start
optimizing." |
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As I see it, the next best thing to developing a whole new brand
is optimizing an existing one. We're not talking about simply turning the flavor knob to "11"
and slapping on a "New and Improved" violator. Product optimization can take many forms, including: close-in product enhancements, flanker products that utilize similar production lines, and line extensions that leverage existing brand equity but in new forms.
>> Continue here to read more about Brand Optimization and some rules of thumb.
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